Wrench



A. C. ALLAN.

WRENCH. I APPLICATION FILED APB-26,1920- 1,386,149. I ratentmugz, 1921.

connection with the PATENT OFFICE- UNITED STA'ILES ALLEN C. ALLAN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

WRENCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 2, 1921.

Application filed April 26, 1920. Serial No. 376,568.

7 '0 all whom it may concern T A V l Be it known that 1, inner? (J. 111mm, a citizen of the United Estates, residing at Chicago, in the county oi. Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in renches, oi which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to tools such as wrenches, pliers, and the like, and concerns more particularly their features and ole-- ments of construction relating to their lul crum mountings with reference to one another and the means for controlling and etfecting the action of the work-gripping aws.

, The leading aim and purpose of the invention is the provision of a tool of this general character which may be quickly and accu rately applied to the body to be grasped, which holds to such body firmly and securely, which is simple in construction, which is composed of but few parts, which is economical to manu fcture, which is easily operated even b novices, and which is unlikely to become damaged or injured in service.

To enable those skilled in this art to have a full and complete understanding of the improved tool, I have illustrated an embodiment ot the same in the accompanying drawing forming a p rt of this specification, to which reference should be had in I oi -owing detail det the several the same parts.

In this drawing:

Figure 1 is a face view ci a desirable in corporation of the invention in physical form showing the jaws of the tool part way open;

Fig. 2 is an edge view oi the appliance;

Fig. 3 is an opposite edge view of the same; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross-section on line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, it will be read ily seen that the tool of Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive comprises a handle-element 9 with a suitable, curved handle-portion 19, such element being equipped at its other end with a laterally-extended work-engaging jaw 11 having, if desired, a roughened or toothed face 12. The element 9 also has an inter mediate part 13 of reduced hickness forming on one face of the member a transverse,

diagonally-disposed or oblique groove with end walls 14 and 15, the thickness of such part 13 being practically onehalf that of the jaw or handle element.

Cooperating with such member is a second or complementary, reverselycurved handle-element 16 having at one end a jaw 17, the full thickness of the member and deslrably roughened or toothed on its end at 18, a handle-portion proper 19 at the other end, and an intervening or intermediate sec tion 20 of substantially-half thickness occupying and slidable in the groove of the other member.

The part 13 has a stud, pin, bolt, or the like 21 projecting through a curved slot 22 in the thinner or overlying portion 20 of the second handle-element 16, the slot being a length to prevent the element 16 from being slid far enough to the left, as the parts are viewed in Fig. 1, to permit the jaw-head 1'? to overlap the end of j aw 11, which, it allowed, would prevent the quick and effective grasp of the jaws on the body to be held between them. In other words, the length of the slot is such to eliminate the possibility of the relatively-slidable jaws becoming undesirably interlocked or associated together.

The parts of the tool are so shaped, formed, and combined that, when the handle portions 10 and 19 are squeezed. or pressed together to grasp a body, such as a nut, between the jaw-faces 12 and 18, the lower edge of the section 20 of the second handleelement 16 bears on the corresponding end wall 15 of the groove 13 at 23 near the edge of the part 13 remote from the handle-portion 19, the edge of jaw 18 presses against the adjacent edge face of the member 9, and the wall of slot 22 may or may notbear on the pin or stud 21, although it is usually desirable that itshould for a suitable distribution ot the strains incident to the operation of the tool.

By reason of the sliding connection between the two elements of the tool, its jaws may be quickly adjusted to the body to be grasped thereby, and, because of the several sliding bearings between the two members positioned and related as shown, an efiective and efficient lever arrangement is secured for holding the body between the jaws with the expenditure of a relatively small amount of efiort on the part of the operator. Also the wrench may be readily and quickly adjusted with one hand to different dimensions between the jaws ready for cotiperation with nuts or other bodies of different sizes.

By having the lever or member 20 bearon the end-wall of the groove a substantial portion of the strain which would otherwise be on the pin or stud 21 may beremoved therefrom, and to assist in further eliminating the st am on the stud or its retaining nut, the

edge portion 24; of the member 20 is beveled way of example only since the invention is susceptible of a varlety 0t embodiments all differing from, one another more or less in mechanical details, but all incorporating the same fundamental principles of construction and modes of operation. These devices may, therefore, be changed without departure from the substance and essence of the invention and without the sacrifice of any 01. its

' substantial and practical benefits and ad vantages. r

. I claim:

I 1. In-a wrench of the character described, the combination of a first handle-member having a transverse groove between its ends andbent laterally at one end (to provide a first jaw, a second handleniember crossing said first handle-member, occupying said groove, and having a second aw at one end adapted to cooperate with said first jaw,

and a pin and slot connection between the overlapped parts of said members, the second jaw bearing on an edge of said first handle-member and an edge otthe second l12111CllGIIlGDll)61' simultaneously bearing on the end wall of the groove remote from the jaws and adjacent to that edge of the first handle-member on which the second jaw bearsfor all positions of the jaws within the first jaw, a second handle-member crossing said first handle-member, occupying said groove, and having a second jaw at one end adapted to cooperate with said first jaw, and a pin and slot connection between the overlapped parts of said members, the's'ec- 0nd jaw bearingvon an edge of said first handle-member and an edge of the second handle-member simultaneously bearing on the end wall of the groove remote from the jaws and adjacent to that edge of the first handle-member on which the second jaw bears for all positions of the jaws within the capacity of the tool and with their active jaw faces substantially parallel, said slot bein of such len 'th as to Jrevent the second O p aw from overlapping the end of the first 3. In awrench of the character described,

the com] ination of a first handle-member having a transverse groove between its ends with an undercut end wall and bent laterally at one end to provide a first jaw, a-second handle-member crossing said'first handle member, occupying said groove, and having a second jar at one end adapted to cooperate with said first aw, and a pin and slot connettion between the overlapped parts of said members, the second jaw bearing on an edge of said first handle-member and an edge of the second handlemember simultaneously bearing on and underlying the undercut in the wall of the groove remote from the jaws and adjacent to that edge of the first handle-member on which the second jaw bears for all positions of the jaws within the capacity of the tooland with their activejaw faces substantially parallel, said slot be ing of such length as to prevent the second jaw from overlapping the end of the first j aw.

ALLEN C. ALLAN. 

